Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has not been shy on the emailing as of late, has sent out a lengthy letter to all of his employees that is a direct response to these recent reports of factory worker mistreatment. Cook's opening: "As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple's values today, and I'd like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain..."

Cook seems a lot busier with the emails than Steve Jobs was. Or the emails leak more easily.

A lot has been said about our new privacy policy. Some have praised us for making our privacy policy easier to understand. Others have asked questions, including members of Congress, and that's understandable too. We look forward to answering those questions, and clearing up some of the misconceptions about our privacy policies that first appeared in the Washington Post. So, here's the real story:

When the Windows 8 beta arrives at the end of February, it will have some widely requested features for killing Metro apps without going to the Task Manager, for navigating using a mouse rather than touch and for doing more with gestures. You'll also be able to change that overpowering green background. But Windows 8 director of communications Chris Flores points out to TechRadar that you wouldn't want a photograph as the background of the Metro-style Start screen.

a source tells us that CEO Larry Page, who seems to be hell-bent on competing with Mark Zuckerberg whether it's the right thing for Google or not, had this to say to employees at a Friday staff event after the Search Plus Your World launch: "This is the path we're headed down - a single unified, 'beautiful' product across everything. If you don't get that, then you should probably work somewhere else." The quasi-ultimatum caught our source by surprise and underscores just how important this new direction is for Page. It also helps explain why Google's PR was so silent since evidence of the Don't Be Evil toolbar came out yesterday. If this is the future of the company and it flies in the face of Google's stated values, what can they say?

Google's PR didn't respond when we asked for a comment on the "Don't Be Evil" bookmarklet. It fits.

Do your maps look like everyone else's? Are you paying high fees just to include maps on your website?

Wonder who that could be referring to?

Switch to OpenStreetMap and discover how you can build beautiful maps from the world's best map data. We give you the data for free; you can make any map you like with it. Or benefit from the expertise of those already using OpenStreetMap. Host it on your hardware, or elsewhere. You have control. switch2osm.org explains how to make the switch - from first principles to technical how-tos.

OpenStreetMap does produce lovely maps, and they are updated - when it's needed - really quickly. When will a satnav provider use one?

Does Microsoft have something against the city of Las Vegas? Late last year, Microsoft announced that 2012 would be its last year keynoting the Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place in Sin City every January. Now, it's also pulling the plug on MIX, an annual conference for developers that Microsoft has held in Vegas for the last six years. The change probably has nothing to do with the location, and more to do with Microsoft's shifting priorities. MIX was originally focused on Microsoft's Web technologies, particularly Silverlight and Internet Explorer.

Norwegian public sector organisations will be banned from using Google Apps after the Norwegian data protection authorities ruled that the service could put citizens' personal data at risk. The data protection authority said Google Apps did not comply with Norwegian privacy laws because there was insufficient information about where data was being kept. The decision came from a test case in Narvik, where the local council had chosen to use Google Apps for their email. The Norwegian ban comes just as things were going so well for Google Apps in Europe, with the company winning its largest ever contract with BBVA, the Spanish bank.

What ICS doesn't magically change is the selection and quality of the tablet apps available in the Android Market. I have consistently pointed out the lack of tablet-optimized apps in my Honeycomb tablet reviews, and it looks like it will be a complaint that persists. While there have been some notable additions and there are some decent tablet-optimized apps (News360, Plume, and TapTu come to mind), others like Facebook and Twitter haven't been redesigned to take advantage of the higher resolution screen, making the experience flat-out disappointing.

The firm did not reveal exactly where in the business the jobs would go, and said the overseas cuts would be made "in accordance with the review of manufacturing operation". However, its financial forecast document (PDF) reveals some clues.

It shows a Mobile Terminal Business in dire straits, with smartphone shipments revised down for the year from 6.5 million to 5 million units and delays to the expansion of its overseas business. The success of "foreign vendors' increasing market share in Japan" was also noted, no doubt a reference to the huge impact the iPhone has made in the land of the rising sun.

Most people (and reviewers) seem to believe that the 10.1in screens (measured diagonally) on the Android Tablets are larger than the 9.7in iPad screen - but they are actually 5% smaller than the iPad in terms of the image area of the screen, which is what really counts. This is due to both Aspect Ratio geometry (the screen area decreases as the Aspect Ratio increases) and the Android system bar, which reduces the image area.

HTC is going to focus on 'hero' devices, rather than blanketing the market:

The company's u-turn follows disappointing global results earlier this month when first quarter net profit fell 26% to $365m, its first quarterly decline in earnings for two years as it faced competition from Apple and Samsung's Galaxy range.

HTC UK chief Phil Roberson (pictured) told Mobile the manufacturer will return to a strategy of launching a limited number of high-spec devices this year, with a focus on second quarter releases. He said: 'We have to get back to focusing on what made us great - amazing hardware and a great customer experience. We ended 2011 with far more products than we started out with. We tried to do too much."